Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-09-28
THE CALIFORNIA BOOM.
1t is Only the Few Successful Ones
Who Write BEck-The Men Who
Fall Endure in silence,
Letter frcm p FIan Who Went and Saw
and Now Utters the Word IN Sea-
son to al Others.
San Angelo ReC5rC.

MIS- and the news Of the rich discovery
spread with the repidi,y of lightning over
the states and over all tae world. there
were but few who heard and could with
stand. People from ell quarters of the
world, men, women and children, old
ard young, were focking into tie newly
discovered Eden, expecting to make =
fortune, ana i,ing in the nope of being
enabled 20 spend tI3 rest OF their lives
il ease sUd abundance in their mother
countries. Few only OF the many who
Went il Search of riches TO the TAR west
saw their expeditions realiZad. Large
numbers returned poorer 10 the coun-
tries which they had LEFT full Of hope. CT
strength and energy, high spirited and
am5!tiousI with hopes disappointed, their
strength aad spirit broken, and their ONLY
desire IN Gle IL the cou0tTy when had
given them hirsl. 0tberS VINO hEd net
the means 10 return u- waiting TO force
fate 10 yield ? return iOx their euGesyOfs,
found Z sC2nty subsistence in the Chase.
They became the pioneers Of civilization
in CaaioEIi.. TIE state soon beceme
ssfe and secure, d second generation grew
10, and this, with Immigrants, who came
10 settle with Inc purpose Of securing
:
the las ilg riches CT the state
Wera to BE- found IN Rar fruitful ana in
eXAaUsti3ie soil, e Ter gpGrkliag streams
ana in her sAiubrlous climate. P1pula-
ttoa increased from year to year, agrlcu!.
rur9, horticulture aud industry were
furnishing sad The development OF the
county kept III equal pace with the in
crease OF the pupuiace, until ere many
Yeas CslfOrDis was known TO be the
richest state il 1he Union, gradually and
steadily increasing in WtgiIh anu p1pu!a =
ton. i few years ago nun 0ec Of peo-
pie not satisfied WITH the gradual, steady
growth th2t had placed California in the
front rank CT the sisterhood OF
states, began TO manufacture su
artificial development taat was
calculated to erncn the movers Of tbs
scheme. Newspapers commenced to talk
or boom WhiCa would strike the coun-
try, ana though nobody could give
correct and exact definition CT The word
everybody was satisfied that il meant
something similar 10 the discovery CT the
gold mines, shat Il would make men rica
without effort and without means
Spectators took hold of the movement
ii it Was not altogether started by them,
aud the warnings 81 few sound minds
finding no justifying Cause for the move
ment and f0reSeeing reaction, were not
heard or listened TO. The boom has been
spreading like sr epidemic al
taCking the people aad throwing
them into the whiri which is now Sweep
ing the country, perhaps TO leave the
shorty poor ana Disappointed 1t Is
now st is height, end real estate trausac-
tioEs recording the sale of 81 600, 600
worth Of property IN towns the world
never has heard of before, are By no
means q rarity. At San Diego we re-
member the purchase Of few hundred
acres Of land for So 100000 1t seems
TO US that il ought 10 oe clear 70 everyone
that this money invested in lsnd edi9in-
ing the metropolis CT the Uaion could
hardly be expected 10 return 4 reason
sble interest. The only way in
which an investment can be Judged
Of and decided az either good
or bad, is its interest producing ca
pacity on the price asked. 1t is, however,
characteristic that all investors who
place their money in place affected with
g boom lose sight OF this all important
factor. Everybody seems to be in fe-
yer heat to secure property at any price,
firmly expecting that they Will lind &
hundred chances to sell to somebody else
before interest could be expected from
his investment. Applying this criterion
to California realty at the present day
they cannot be considered desirable IS
investments. It is evident that the
end must come and those that hold will
be the losers. This is the fate of
speculation in eny article. Gambling
msy be fascinating, but it is not ssfe
The future will teach that many have
sown, huC that the few viii reap. If we
have succeeded in drawing the attention
OF the immigrsnt and of the capitalist to
The fsct that there Is no perceptible, sub
stantiai cause for the enormous rise Of
property values in California, and that 8
conclusion drsEn from the fact must lead
10 the truth that loss must follow, then
we will be satisfied. A boom is not what
we desire for our own country and state
anyway, not that which is generally uu-
derstood by this word. Cur object
is to describe the state OF affairs in
T xas in true ana intellielble Han
guage, to invite the immigrant snd cap
italist to settle and invest sitter close in
speCtiOn. We endeavor to set forth the
resources that cur state and county
offers, and if we may be sometimes mis-
taken in estimating their value investiga-
lions before settlement and before in
vestment Will ser US right. But it is q
fact that cannot be gainsaid that Texas is
in It's infancy, that but few of her re-
sources are developed, and we therefore
Can promise homes 20 settlers aud profit
able and secure investments TO capitalists.
Since writing the above we notice the
following in connection with the Caliior-
MIA boom FROM an eye witness. We deem
comment unnecessary:
SAN DIEGO, CAL Aug 10, 1897.
Editor FL Paso Inter Republics
In pursuance to the promise made to
you on the depot platform while passing
through your city on the 1st OF this
month, will endeavor to give you o-day
the impressions that have gathered in
three weeks sojourn at this place and
pretty vigorous effort to make some
money out Of the so-called California
boom. As the entire history OF my ex-
perience may be of vslue to others, I will
begin by stating what L believe told you
that wss prompted to come to San
Diego by the fact thst s neigh
Dor of mine came here couple
of months ago, or less. and
wrote back that he had cleared $500 on
g $4,000 capital. | took the fever from